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Science Memes @mander.xyz

fossilesque @mander.xyz

11mo ago

Alas Moths

32 comments

It's apparently also got the size for it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacus_atlas
- If I had 2 cobras watching my back I too would grow as big as I wanted without giving a shit.
- Wtf that looks sick

The crazy thing about this is not just how evolution reverse-engineered what a snake looks like to a bird (or whatever preys on this moth), but also that some birds are born with an image burned into their brains labeled “avoid.” Snakes are such a problem to animals that may also prey on this moth, that a moth was able, over millions of years of evolution, to mimic that image through selective pressure. We’re not seeing here a moth mimicking a snake, we are seeing a moth’s wings resembling the image its prey holds in its brain of what it should identify as its own predator. An image that, itself, is held genetically and passed down from animal to animal, built by its own selective pressure. It’s amazing that this could produce such a clear image that’s immediately recognizable to us.
- Or to boil it down:the ones who's wings looked more like snakes had more babies cuz they're weren't dead.
  
  The ones whos wings looked like what their predators think a snake looks like survived more often.
- I mean don't we also sort of carry that same image (obviously not exactly, but sorta) in our genes?
- My dog will jump when I accidentally step on stick so that it suddenly moves, he has never seen a real snake. Non moving sticks that look like a snake? Doesnt react at all, I guess that routine was causing too many false positives and has not been propagated

Evolution's fucking badass!
The process that made these images is very similar to the ones used by genAI in some ways.
- Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking! They cannot really tell what they look like or what they should look like. But based on various pressures and weights, they slowly get pushed to look like a cobra, for example. Amazing!
- Imagine what the planet might look like if natural selection iterated at a rate anywhere near what AI models do.

Can someone explain the comment. What does "hot girl shit" even mean.
- It's one of Megan Thee Stallion's catch phrases that she says in a lot of her songs, and she also uses a lot of snake imagery. She has a song called Cobra.
- two cobras watching your back, undoubtedly
  
  Two or three years ago it was just another snake cult, now... they're everywhere.
- She slays.

Moths are awesome, there's no "Alas" about them!
- I came for the alas, stayed for the atlas.

ngl it got me. It's confusing attack was highly effective.
- The butterfly is called Attacus for a reason.

First step: Google it to make sure it's not generative AI.
Second step: allow oneself to be amazed.

There are also other species (eg. Archaeoattacus edwardsi), which show the snake pictured from a different angle. It's just fascinating!

I am down to respectfully admire any snake, but moths freak me tf out sorry
- Your loss tbh, moths are fkn awesome
  
  I know, my brain is just very unhappy when it registers one :') I am getting better at it tho, only cried a little bit the last time a moth made it into my apartment

Alas! Moths.

where is your god now?

Looks AI generated, LOL.

32 comments